|
Post by JoeP on Jun 24, 2017 11:16:03 GMT
Peri-peri chicken livers are wonderful. The usual calf's liver, with or without onions, hmm. It's not always inedible ... but sometimes you get a sinewy bit of vein in the middle of that classic half-slimy half-gritty liver texture.
|
|
|
Post by whollygoats on Jun 24, 2017 15:18:44 GMT
I've had haggis and thought it was tassty enough, except that it was lamby. My best friend loves American bacon. I assume it's because it's much more fatty. I think you guys use pork belly for bacon is that right? I think it is because we fry it crispy. Yes, American bacon has a lot more fat, but much of it is fried out and ends up being lard for cooking. The way I like my bacon is fried crispy, but not black. It should crunch when you bite through it. I tend to sear my ham steak (aka 'gammon plank'), too. Brits seem to like their back bacon as if they'd just fished it out of tepid water. Do not judge us by Starbutts. I avoid them, if I can. They are iconic standards of the advance of US corporatism, along with McDonald's. In the UK, I came to truly appreciate the Caffe Nero outlets. They were pushing an Italian cafe scene in the more 'academic' locations. Good coffee, available iced, which became very important, and a good selection of sandwiches and desserts. And strong wifi to the Cloud. Survival for the singular traveler. An outfit called Costa was marketing the same-ish stuff to the 'more average Brit' who was experimenting with expensive coffee.
|
|
|
Post by tangent on Jun 25, 2017 0:37:58 GMT
My local, the Ring O' Bells, does liver and onions regularly. It has to be served with mash in a rich gravy.
|
|
|
Post by whollygoats on Jun 27, 2017 15:47:47 GMT
So...to how many fora has this thread been added?
It seems that every forum I step in to, there is the admonition, "So, Kelly".
|
|
|
Post by whollygoats on Jun 27, 2017 16:03:22 GMT
Another thing I am happy to be home for...fresh strawberries and ice cream. Or, whipped cream, it matters not.
A local cultivar, 'Hood' is a superb compliment to a quality vanilla ice cream. So uniquely tart and sweet. I stumbled in to a flat of them (that's a dozen punnets) at the Berry Good fruit stand. Only the dawgs know how the Brits would have used such largess.
Brits, seemingly anywhere in the UK, still do better fish & chips than most US purveyors of the dish. I did not have any mediocre fish and chips...nor, am I aware of, any frozen fried chips, they were all made with fresh potatoes. Top rate. I passed on the novelty deep fried dishes...one place had battered and fried candy bars. OTT.
Beef and ale pie is a winner, too. I had shepherd's pie just once, but it was exquisite. I passed on the pheasant san, though. I'm convinced the venison I had gave me BO for the next day. I found the masalas not particularly to my liking. Gregg's became a 'go to' outlet for cheese and egg mayo sammiches. Wetherspoons IS a decent fall-back for an adequate meal at a decent price. I snagged some pretty decent heated Italian sammiches (focaccia/baguettes), usually in odd locations, like the top of Scafell on the IoM.
|
|
|
Post by tangent on Jun 27, 2017 17:38:24 GMT
..nor, am I aware of, any frozen fried chips, they were all made with fresh potatoes. One can buy 'oven chips' in supermarkets that are part-cooked fried chips. Typically one would heat them in an oven for 15 to 20 minutes and they have a passing resemblance to the real thing.
|
|
|
Post by Moose on Jun 27, 2017 18:09:31 GMT
So...to how many fora has this thread been added? It seems that every forum I step in to, there is the admonition, "So, Kelly". Wait .. you go to other forums?!?!
|
|
|
Post by Moose on Jun 27, 2017 18:10:32 GMT
Re Brits and bacon ... if you'd had it here I'd have cooked it properly A lot of B and Bs seems to just breathe on it and then bring it out though - yuck. But smoked back British bacon that is PROPERLY cooked is fantastic
|
|
|
Post by whollygoats on Jun 27, 2017 18:54:59 GMT
So...to how many fora has this thread been added? It seems that every forum I step in to, there is the admonition, "So, Kelly". Wait .. you go to other forums?!?! Well...the subfora, here at Urpforum. I saw it first in 'Food'...aside from where it started in 'History & Geography'. Then I looked in all the subfora, and, for me, at least, it appears as the first subject line. And, if you are asking if I go to other boards than europeforum, you know the answer is yes. I participate in FF, still. And Secular Cafe. And ScaleMates, my modeling board. Then there is the stuff on FB, which most here are in on. That's where the pix are.
|
|
|
Post by JoeP on Jun 27, 2017 21:00:53 GMT
It's only in one place for me. Travel & Geography. But I tend to look mostly at 'recently updated threads' rather than each subforum page.
|
|
|
Post by whollygoats on Jun 28, 2017 2:15:18 GMT
Maybe because I am active and named and whatever in that thread, the system sees it as necessary that I be informed in whatever forum I am in at the time?
When does Skynet come down, any way?
|
|
|
Post by whollygoats on Jun 28, 2017 2:25:50 GMT
It's only in one place for me. Travel & Geography. But I tend to look mostly at 'recently updated threads' rather than each subforum page. Well, admittedly, it is one of my faves, but I post a bit more broadly than that, going to Food & Drink, International Politics, Gardening, and even, Senior Theology & Philosophy. I've even been known to post in General Bored. I'm an all around raconteur...a sensitive guy, y'know?
|
|
|
Post by Sarah W. on Jun 28, 2017 18:32:01 GMT
I see it everywhere, too. It has a different icon than other threads, too (an exclamation mark on the folder). When I hover over the icon it says "Thread Announcement" but on other threads the hover text is just "thread".
|
|
|
Post by Moose on Jun 28, 2017 19:10:23 GMT
I see it everywhere but I did not do it!
|
|
|
Post by whollygoats on Jul 1, 2017 1:01:34 GMT
So...Urpformers...Particularly those who followed my meanderings around the UK on FB....
Can you access the stock of photos on my FB page...under 'photos', and 'photo albums' or 'albums', and then the album entitled, 'Mobile Uploads'?
It should be a stock of over 1500 pix of my wanderings. I think it is those I posted up as I went along, because the trove I downloaded from the smartphone to my desktop counted over 3500 images, which sounds more correct.
I just want to see if it is available to those of 'friend' status on FB.
ETA: Wait...wait...If I go in and look, I see 'photos of me' and 'my photos', then there are 'albums'. The 'my photos' accesses all my trip photos.
EATA: From looking at others' FB pages, mine probably says, "Photos of Kelly", and "Kelly's Photos", and "Albums".
|
|
|
Post by tangent on Jul 1, 2017 9:21:15 GMT
Yes, we can access them.
|
|
|
Post by Moose on Jul 1, 2017 19:08:31 GMT
It appears so
|
|
|
So, Kelly
Jul 1, 2017 19:18:19 GMT
via mobile
Post by juju on Jul 1, 2017 19:18:19 GMT
Ok, here's a question for Kelly. If you could take one thing (and it doesn't have to be a tangible thing) from the US and give it to the UK, what would it be? And vice versa - UK to US.
|
|
|
Post by Moose on Jul 1, 2017 19:45:15 GMT
Oooh good question
|
|
|
Post by Moose on Jul 1, 2017 19:45:30 GMT
Though you're not allowed to give us Trump
|
|
|
Post by whollygoats on Jul 1, 2017 19:56:26 GMT
UK to US....Limited duration elections. Ours are endless.
US to UK....An appreciation for iced tea. And air conditioning.
|
|
|
Post by Moose on Jul 1, 2017 20:05:00 GMT
You managed to arrive during an unusual time .. it's not normally as hot as it was when you were here, I promise. Truth to tell, it's been cold and drizzly the last week
|
|
|
Post by whollygoats on Jul 1, 2017 20:25:46 GMT
Hey.
At least I didn't grind it in about the bacon.
And you came up with gin & tonic, for crepes sake. It seems only a short stride to icing the damned tea.
|
|
|
Post by whollygoats on Jul 1, 2017 22:25:24 GMT
In the Fens during an extended heat wave is no way to go, I'll admit. The parks of Cambridge were arboreally adequate, but Ely Cathedral was divine.
I must admit, I had perfect air for my flights; something I fretted about earlier in the wanderings.
|
|
|
Post by whollygoats on Jul 1, 2017 22:43:46 GMT
London overwhelmed me. I was glad I was in tow of some 'local'. The British Museum was ab-fab, particularly in the company of Miisa and JoeP.
They very kindly tried to prompt me for my return trip to get to the Airport ibis hotel via the Underground.
I did not return to London, but ran off to Ely and the welcome cool of the cathedral and then back to Cambridge.
Then, come time to traverse London and final pre-departure staging near Heathrow, I freaked about dragging my millstone through the tubes. I had a pocketful of pounds and time, so I took a taxi. The big question of the cost for the transit from Liverpool Street to Paddington Station was moot. I figured I had enough, but I really didn't know what 'enough' was. It hurt, but it wasn't out of the realm of reason, and I got to see surface transit from the back of a London cab; a new adventure.
From Paddington, I took a blessedly air conditioned airport shuttle to Terminal 2 and booked another taxi to take me to the door of the Heathrow Airport ibis Hotel. I then found out there was a regular shuttle between the airport row hotels for a third of the taxi cost. Ehh... I spent a quiet afternoon and evening reading and repacking, once again, in air conditioned splendor.
|
|
|
Post by whollygoats on Jul 1, 2017 22:56:58 GMT
I am still impressed with how Britain has integrated its rail and public bus systems in to a fairly decent means for a traveler like myself to get around.
I really appreciated finding out that I could go to any staffed ticket window and get a ticket-sized print-out of the easiest way(s) to get to my next destination, complete with the platforms I needed. Of course, scale has a lot to do with it. Brits can get from one end of the country to another, by train, in a day, or less. It takes three to four days by rail across the US.
As noted elsewhere, the train staff were top-rate, and most bus drivers quite helpful.
|
|
|
Post by Kye on Jul 1, 2017 23:43:32 GMT
When I was in London last summer, the hotel I stayed at (an Ibis in somewhere Monarch-y --Earl's Court?) was in walking distance from a Tube station so it was easy to get to Heathrow from there. I took the Tube everywhere and found it very easy to navigate.
|
|
|
Post by raspberrybullets on Jul 2, 2017 6:40:52 GMT
I don't understand why anybody would want to ice their tea. Tea is meant as a hot beverage to soothe and revive.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2017 7:10:34 GMT
You should try iced coffee. It's refreshing on any hot day.
|
|
|
Post by raspberrybullets on Jul 2, 2017 7:17:02 GMT
Iced coffee is OK, but coffee is not a soothing drink so it can be cold. That's why we have coffee ice cream but not tea ice cream. Well except for the Japanese places like to make green tea ice cream but it's not delicious the way other traditional ice cream flavours are.
|
|